Key retaining buckle



May 20, 1952 F. OLDAL 2,597,170

KEY RETAINING BUCKLE Filed March 9, 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET l INVENTOR.

FRANK OLDFIL AWJk/wfikiuw HTTORNEYS May 20, 1952 QLDAL 2,597,170

KEY RETAINING BUCKLE Filed March 9, 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR? FRHN K O L on L.

BY a, Nam 1 RTTORNE Y5 Patented May 20, 1952 UNITED A STATE s PATENT v OFFICE KEY RETAINING- BUCKLE '1 Frank ()ldal, Yonkers, N. Y. Application March 9, 1951, Serial-No; 214,699

Thepresent invention is directed'pri-marily; to

the provision of an improved key-retaining buckle; which overcomes. the above-nOted-objections;

A belt buckle made according to the invention comprises apair of-cover platesrelatively movable into and out of opposed relation wherein the plates define between thema key-retaining recess. One-of the. plates. has-a belt-receivin opening, and the platesfo-rm at one enda belt receiving slot communicating with this opening byway of therecess. A belt-retaining. prong is pivoted on thev plate having. this opening and is adapted to extend over the opening and through a hole in an end portion of thebelt passing through the slot; the recess and the opening. The other end of the belt can be connected to the buckle. by a belt-securing device at the end of. the plate remote from the. slot. A flexiblekey-retaining element is: mounted'in the. recess on one ofthe plates and is engageable with a key in the recess. when the; plates are. in their opposedrelation, whereby; the flexible. element urges the key againstthe other plate. I The plates have releasable interengaging means for securing them in theiropposedrelation, so thatthe keyis clamped in the recess by the flexible element. pin, in the recess projects toward the flexible element from the. opposing recess, to supplement the action of the flexible element inretaining the key-in fixed position in therecess;

With the new construction; the key-retaining recess and the flexible element therein do not interfere in any way with the operation of the buckle to join the end portions of the belt; The free end portion of the belt -is simply inserted through the end slot between the platesand 1' through the adjacent end, of the key recess: and the opening in oneof the plates, whereupon the prong is inserted through theproperhole'in the beltltorhold. the belt. endportion. The key in the. recess may be removed without unbuokli-ng Preferably, a key-locating the belt, bymerely moving theplates out of their opposed relationand therebyv opening the recess. This opening movement of the plates may be effected by swinging one of the plates one hinge through which it is connected to the other plate, or by 'sliding: one of the plates along the other plate so as to: disengage inter-locking flanges on the plates: When the key has been inserted' in. the recess, it is heldtherein. by the releasable means which hold theplates in their opposed" relation, and in this position of the plates the flexible element urges the key against one of the plates so as to prevent rattling of the key in the buckle.

For-a better understanding of the invention reference maybe had tothe accompanying drawing, in which V Fig. l, is a front'view, of one form of the new buckle;

Fig. 2 is a. view similar to Fig,- 1 but showin the cover, plates swung tothe open position;

Figs. 3 andj4- are sectional views on the lines 3+3 and 4+4. in Fig. 1;,

Fig; 5 isaperspectivewiew of ,thekey-retaining insert;

Fig. 6. is: afrontview-oi-another form of the new buckle;

Fig. 7 is agside viem -partly in section, of the buckle illustrated in Fig. 6 but showing the cover plates in their open position;

Figs. 8- and 9 are; sectional views on the lines 81-.-8 and 98 in'Eig. 7;

Fig. 10 isa frontview cfstill another form of the-buckle;

Fig.- 11 isa side 'view of'the buckle illustrated in Fig. 10, with parts broken away;

Figs. 12- and 13 are sectional-views on the lines l2':-t2.=and |3'l 3 inFig. 11, and

Fig. .14 is a, sectional view onthe line E=5M in Fig; 10-:

Referring to Figs. lthrough 5, the buckle there shown'comprises a front cover plate l5, which, at; one; end portion, is provided with rounded enlargements l5a on its sides. The plate 15 has a flange fill-extending along its side edges and along the: edge at the enlarged end of this plate. The flange l5b extendsrearward from the face of the plate l5'sosas to form side walls of the plate. In other'words, the. plate forms a. shallow recess defined bythe flange [5b, except at the reduced 'endaof the plate where the flange i5?) is omitted. The plate- I5 has: at its reduced end portion a; T-shaped opening" I50. A prong I6 is pivotally mounted on the plate-l5-at the base of the stem ofthe T-shaped opening lie, as

shown at Mia. The prong extends longitudinally of the plate, and its free end portion is adapted to seat on the outer face of the plate l at the edge of the opening l5c opposite the pivot lea.

A thin insert I1 is removably mounted in the enlarged portion of the plate l5 and is shaped to fit closely against the flanges 15b, whereby the insert is held in position in this plate. The insert has a pair of legs Ila extending into the reduced portion of the plate I5, and near thejuncture' of these legs with the main portion of the insert the latter is provided with raised detents llb.

A rear cover plate 19 is provided laterally with rounded enlargements l9a corresponding to the enlargements of the front plate. The reduced ends of the plates I5 and 19 are hingedtogether by pivot pins 1%, which may be arranged to extend through the flanges [5b and suitable ears on the plate 19. The plates 15 and I9 are of similar configuration and size, so that when the plates are swung to their closed positions on the hinges [9b, as shown in Fig. 1, the edges of the plates are in alignment. At its reduced or hinged end, the rear plate [9 is recessed, as shown at I90, to facilitate insertion of the free end of the belt or strap through the slot between the plates at these ends and through the opening I50. When the free end of the belt is thus inserted, the prong [6 may be inserted through a hole in the belt so as to secure the belt in the usual manner. The cushion 20, which may be made of felt or rubber, for example, is secured to the inside of the rear plate l9, as by means of an adhesive.

The cover plates I5 and [9, when in their closed positions, are held together by releasable interengaging means comprising extensions Hid and lSd of the enlarged ends of the respective plates, and a locking lever 2! pivotally mounted on the extension I5d, as shown at 21a. The extensions !5d and I911 have aligned openings l5e and [96, respectively, through which a hook 2lb extends from the free end of the lever 2|. With the lever 2| in its locking position, as shown in Fig. 1, the hook 2!?) extends through the aligned openings [5e and [9e and over the outer surface of the rear plate extension I9d (Fig. 4), thereby locking the free or enlarged ends of the plates together. To swing the plates to their open position on hinges l9b, as shown in Fig. 2, it is necessary only to swing the free end of lever 2| to the right, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the hook 21b disengages the extension ltd of the rear plate, and then draw the free or enlarged end of the front plate [5 away from the rear plate.

In the use of the new buckle, one end of the strap S is passed through the opening [9e of the rear plate extension [9d and permanently secured in a loop, as shown in Figs. 1 through 4. Thus, when the cover plates l5 and 19 are closed and locked by the lever 2|, one part of the loop at the permanently-fixed end of the strap will lie between the plate extensions [5d and l9d. The free end of the strap may then be inserted through the space between the hinged ends of the plates, by Way of the recess [90, and through the front plate opening I96, so that the strap may be secured by means of the prong It, as previously mentioned. Before the plate members are closed, the keys K are placed in the front plate [5 on the insert H, where they are held in position by the detents or locating pins 11b. The enlarged portion [5a of the front plate will accommodate the enlarged portions of two keys, the reduced portions of the keys extending into the reduced portions of the front plate. When the plates are closed and locked, the cushion 20 is held compressed against the keys K, thereby preventing rattling of the keys in the buckle. The keys may be removed from the buckle, even without detaching the free end of the strap S from the, prong [6, by simply releasing the locking lever 2| and swinging the front plate to its open position on the hinges N31).

The buckle illustrated in Figs. 6 through 9 comprises front and rear cover plates 23 and 26, respectively, of rectangular form. The front plate 23 has marginal flanges 23a extending rearward toward the plate 26, thus forming lateral walls of a recess in the front plate. A prong 24 is pivoted at one end to the front plate, as shown at 24a, and extends longitudinally across a square opening 231) in this plate, the free end of the .pivot pins 26a located at the ends of the plates adjacent the free end of the prong 24. The flange 23a is omitted at the hinged end of th epl'ate 23, to allow insertionof the free endof the strap between the plates, by way ofarecess 26b in the rear plate, and through theopening 2312, so that the strap can be secured in the usual manner by the prong 24. The rear plate 26 has key-locating pins 21 extending into the recessv in the front plate, the keys being located by placing them so that the pins 21 extend through the usual holes in the enlarged portions of the keys, as shown in Fig. 8.

The free ends of the cover plates 23 and 26 have extensions 23c and 260, respectively, provided with openings 23d and 26d. One end of the strap S is passed through the opening 26d and permanently secured in a loop. The cover plates are adapted to be locked in their closed position by a locking lever 28 pivotally mounted at 28a on the front plate extension 230. At its free end, the lever 28 has a hook 28?) extending through the openings 23d and 2601. When the lever 28 is in its locking position, the hook 281) fits into a slot 266 in the rear plate extension 260 and extends along the outer surface of this extension. The plates may be unlocked by swinging the lever 28 to disengage the hook 28b from the rear plate 26. In the closed position 'of the cover plates, the leaf spring 25 is held against the keys K and presses them against the rear plate 26 to prevent rattling of the keys. The leaf spring 25 has a central hole 25b overlying the hinge 24a, so as to allow free movement of the prong 24 when the leaf spring is deflected against the front cover plate.

Referring to Figs. 10 through 14, the buckle there shown comprises a front cover plate 30 having at one end a square opening 30a. A prong 3| extends longitudinally across the opening 30a and is hinged at one end to the plate 30, as shown at 3la. The plate as has side flanges 38b extending toward a rear cover plate 32, the flanges 3021 being adapted to fit closely together. A leaf spring 33 is located between the cover plates and is secured at one end to the larger end of the front plate 30, as shown at 33a. The spring 33 has an opening 33b overlying the hinge 3la so as to prevent interference with the movement of prong 3| when the leaf spring is deflected toward the plate 3!]. The rear plate 32 has key-locating pins 34 similar to the pins 21.

At its larger end, the rear plate 32 has an extension 321: formed with an opening 320 for one end of the strap (not shown), which is inserted through the opening 320 and secured permanently in a loop, as described in connection with the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 1 through 9.

The plates 39 and 32 can be disconnected by simply sliding the plate 30 to the left (Fig. 1) on the plate 32 until the flanges 3% are withdrawn from the space between the flanges 32a. The plates are connected, of course, by the reverse movement. When the plates are connectedjthe leaf spring 33 presses thekeys against the rear plate 32 to hold them securely in position.

I claim:

1. A belt buckle comprising a pair of cover plates relatively movable into and out of opposed relation wherein said plates define between them a key-retaining recess, one plate having a belt-receiving opening, the plates forming at one end thereof a belt-receiving slot communicating with said opening through the recess, a belt-retaining prong pivoted on said one plate and adapted to extend over said opening, a belt-securing device at the end of said plates remote from the slot, a flexible key-retaining element in the recess on one of the plates and engageable with a key in said recess when the plates are in said opposed relation, to urge the key against the other plate, and releasable means on the plates for securing them in said opposed relation.

2. A belt buckle according to claim 1, comprising also a key-retaining pin in said recess projecting toward said flexible element from the opposing plate.

3. A belt buckle according to claim 1, comprising also a hinged connection between the plates adjacent said slot for accommodating said relative movement of the plates.

4.. A belt buckle according to claim 1, in which said releasable means include a member movably mounted on one of the plates and having a part engageable with said belt-securing device to hold the plates in said opposed relation.

5. A belt buckle according to claim 1, comprising also a hinged connection between the plates adjacent said slot, for accommodating said relative movement of the plates, said releasable means including a member movably mounted on one of the plates and having a part engageable with said belt-securing device to hold the plates in said opposed relation.

6. A belt buckle according to claim 1, comprising also an insert removably mounted in the recess on the plate opposite said flexible element, and a key-retaining pin in the recess projecting from said insert toward the flexible element.

7. A belt buckle according to claim 1, in which said flexible element is a rubber-like cushion.

8. A belt buckle according to claim 1, in which said flexible element is a leaf spring.

9. A belt buckle according to claim 1, in which said releasable means include flanges extending along the sides of each plate and in sliding engagement with the flanges on the other plate.

FRANK OLDAL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,339,297 Segal Jan. 18, 1944 

